David E. Robbins

David Robbins is a partner in the New York City law firm of Kaufmann Gildin & Robbins LLP and specializes in commercial arbitration and mediation. He represents investors, brokers and firms in disputes and brokers and firms before regulatory agencies. His firm also specializes in all aspects of franchise law, nationwide and worldwide. He is an expert witness in malpractice cases arising out of securities arbitrations. David and his firm have been responsible for the return of tens of millions of dollars to investors and have represented brokers in arbitrations and regulatory matters. David served as Special Deputy Attorney General of New York State, responsible for the civil and criminal prosecution of securities fraud cases, and was the American Stock Exchange Director of Compliance and Director of its Legal and Regulatory Policy Division, where his was Director of Arbitration and Director of Disciplinary Hearings. He has the highest Peer Review Rating (AV) from Martindale-Hubbell and in 2016, 2020 and 2023 was approved as a “Super Lawyer” in securities law for the New York metropolitan region.

David is the author of Securities Arbitration Procedure Manual (Dec. 2022 Matthew Bender, a division of Lexis Publishing ), which has been the primary text in this area of the law and which he has updated for over 30 years. This two-volume, 4,200+ page book presents pragmatic, balanced guides to the practice of securities arbitration and mediation for attorneys representing investors, brokers and firms. Since 1995, Mr. Robbins has written the annual Practice Commentary to McKinney's Consolidated Laws of New York, Article 23-A of the General Business Law - on securities arbitration and mediation. He has written over 80 articles on securities law, including “Trust Established – Trust Breached,” “Nothing But The Truth? Lying in Arbitration” and “The New FINRA Expungement Rules,” published by The PIABA Bar Journal.

David served as the Chairperson for more than 20 Practising Law Institute (PLI) continuing education programs on securities arbitration and mediation. He is the recipient of the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association (PIABA) lifetime achievement Golden Bow Tie Award and was a member of FINRA Dispute Resolution’s National Arbitration and Mediation Committee. He is a member of the New York City Bar Association and PIABA and is on the Board of Editors of Securities Arbitration Commentator and The PIABA Bar Journal. Mr. Robbins has been co-chair of the New York State Bar Association program on securities arbitration. In 2023, he became a Founding Member of the Financial Professionals Coalition, Ltd., a new resource for the securities industry.